Be a Superhost: The importance of badge systems for peer-to-peer rental accommodations

Many sharing-economy websites like Airbnb that offer vacation-rental options for travelers are very popular. However, few studies targeting the vacation-rental industry have investigated online reviews. To narrow this gap, this study focuses mainly on the gamification design developed by Airbnb that awards a Superhost badge to hosts who receive good reviews and observes how this can impact an accommodation's review volume and ratings. All available information regarding Airbnb accommodation offered in Hong Kong was retrieved from Airbnb's website. We then constructed a negative binomial model and a Tobit model with different independent variables and controlled a set of variables relating to accommodation characteristics. The results show that an accommodation with the Superhost badge is more likely to receive reviews and higher ratings. In addition, guests are willing to spend more on Superhost accommodations. Based on our findings, we present implications for research and host practice. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.